Puffer fish and snails. help?

Question

1. my puffer has been swimming around all crazy like for a couple days. he floats around upside down, barely swims, and lays at the bottom of the tank. he gets stuck behind the filter, hasnt been eating, runs into the side of the tank, and does twitchy summer salts. a girl at work said he might be constipated...? sounds funny but could this be true? if so how can i help him.. if thats not the problem, what is?!?!

2. dumb question, but do apple snails need bigger shells to move into to grow?? or will their own shells grow with them??

Answer 1

1)  That's not a good sign.  Check your water quality.  What are you feeding him?  If it's not the water quality, try changing up what you're feeding him.

2)  Snail shells grow with the snail like turtle and tortoise shells do.

You are also aware that puffers eat snails, right?

Answer 2

1. Your puffer doesn't sound constipated to me.  It sounds more like he might have some sort of neurological damage.  That could be caused by poor water conditions or parasites.  Does he have any physical symptoms you can see other than his behavior?  Any white spots, redness around the gills or irregular looking poo?  Have you had your water tested?  Do an immediate water change of 30%.  That's always a good idea if you think something is wrong with your fish.  A water change always helps and never hurts.

2.  Apple snails grow their own shells.  As the snail grows so does its shell.  You need to make sure that your snail is supplied with an adequate amount of calcium in its diet or in the water (eg, your water is hard enough) for it to grow a healthy shell.  If the water is too soft and the snail doesn't have enough calcium in its diet, then the shell will be thin and fragile or may even have holes in it.  Fresh dill weed is a very calcium rich food for snails.  You can also get "snail milk" to give snails a calcium boost.  He's not in with your puffer, is he?  Otherwise the puffer will likely eat him eventually...

Answer 3

1. The puffer sounds like he's having some swim bladder issues (can be caused by constipation, and as previous poster mentioned sometimes a mashed pea can help with that). I'd try the mashed pea and then don't feed him for a couple of days and see how he does. Overfeeding, and/or not feeding enough variety can cause the swim bladder problems.

2. Apple snails do not need new shells. The shell continuously grows along with the snail. One thing though - if you're housing the snail and the puffer together, you're probably asking for a dead snail at some point. The puffer will gnaw on the snail's shell and eventually do enough damage to kill the snail.

It's usually a good idea to feed puffers small snails anyhow to keep their beaks trimmed. They have a constantly growing beak that requires something to help it stay trimmed or they will suffer down the line. Small snails are usually a good way to do that.

Good luck.

Answer 4

1 did you cycle your tank? There maybe ammonia and nitrite spikes in the water. He is also constipated just cook a pea peel its skin and the mash it and feed it to him.

2 I think their shell will grow on them.